Ladies First

(By T.G. John, Advocate, Trichur)

The following case is one of the first known cases in English Criminal History where the dead body was disposed by dismemberment.

On 2nd of March 1725, a watchman found, much to his horror, a human head on the shore of the River Thames where the Tate Gallery now stands. It was placed on a tombstone in St. Margaret's Church yard where people Hocked to see it. Later it was hoisted on top of a pole and several people thought they recognised one Mr. Hayes who lived with Iris wife in the Tyburn Road. Catherine Hayes meanwhile was searching vigorously for her husband who according to her left her, saying that he was going to Portrayal. Finally she identified the head on the pole as that of her husband. By this time other parts of the body were found in Marylebone fields, in a pond.

The grief-stricken Mrs. Hayes overplayed her part a bit, which finally led to her arrest alongwith two other persons Wood and Billings, for the murder of her husband. Wood finally made a clean confession. Mrs. Hayes had apparently reasons for hating her husband and the most important being that he was a free-thinker and therefore, it was no more a sin to kill him than her dog. He had also told her accomplices that Hayes had murdered his two children and buried them under a pear and an apple tree. Mr. Hays was plied with liquor and murdered with a hatchet. The head was then severed over a pail to catch the blood. Mrs. Hayes wanted to boil the head to destroy the features but her accomplices were frightened of the operation and ran away with the head to a lime wharf near Horseferry Passage (now Lambeth Bridge) where they concealed it.

Wood died in Newgate prison before execution. Billings was hanged and Mrs. Hayes was sentenced to be burned alive as being guilty of petty treason (husband murder) and Mrs. Hayes was burned alive. This law continued in force in the land of Sir Edward Coke till 1793 and the last woman to suffer under it was Phoobe Harris in 1788.

And this one from the land of Clinton. The following is the case of a 28 year old Kentuckian sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of her husband where the modus operandi of the disposal of the dead body was also dismemberment.

In 1947, Nira Housden and her husband bus-driver Charles Housden aged 29, lived in High Land Park, Michigan near Detroit. Nina was a very beautiful woman but she suffered from an insatiable jealousy continuously accusing her husband of infidelity although his diversions were only beer drinking and smoking. His weekly wage packet was only 65 dollars and this was hardly conducive lo extramarital relations. Made frantic by his wife's neurotic conduct, Charles Housden left her several times. But Nina's seductive cajolery always made the healing. Finally things reached a final pass, Charles got a Court injunction in his favour forbidding Nina to phone him during his working hours. Even that did not work out the desired result and the demented husband filed suit, for divorce despite protestations from his wife.

On 18th December 1947 Nina, playing the trump card of feminine cajolery and coquettishness persuaded her husband to meet her in her Highland Park apartment. There she plied him with drink and wifely lust until he collapsed, exhausted in the bed. And then she did it. A clothesline was looped round his neck and she strangled him with the ease of a professional.

The whole night she slept beside the corpse. In the morning she had her breakfast and rolled back the carpet, wadded the floor with newspapers and then in two lengthy and leisurely sessions (with an interval for sleep) she dismembered the corpse of the man whom she could not think of going with another. The blood stained newspapers and the blood stained dress were destroyed in the stove while each dismembered portion was weapped in gay X' mas paper (only four days for white X' mas) and each bundle tied with blue ribbon. The bundles were then piled in the rear seat of her Ford Car. Her intention was to drive to some secluded spot in Kentucky Hills and then dispose of the bundles. During the journey the car broke down at Toledo. Ohio. She was told by the Garage owner that it would take two days for repair but Nina announced her intension to the man that she would prefer to stay in the car all time than occupy a room in a hotel. When on the second day, a disagreeable smell permeated both car and eventually garage Mrs. Housden calmly told them that her back seat bundles contained venison. On X' mas Eve. the repair of the car was over but an inquisitive garage hand investigated the foul smelling packages in the back as the owner was taking a nap in the front seat. In the very first bundle a decomposed human leg was found and the police was instantly called to the scene. Nina Housden admitted the killing - 'My husband was not a bad man, but he was just running about with other women, and that was why I did it'. She comforted herself.

Found legally sane, she was indicted as a charge of first degree murder and found guilty.

On Watergate and Monicagate

(By T.G. John, Advocate, Thrissur)

1972 - During the Presidential Campaign of Richard Nixon, a group of election agents employed by the Re-election Organisation of the President, were caught breaking into the Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate Building, Washington D.C. The consequent political scandal was exacerbated by attempts to conceal the facts that Senior Whitehouse Officials had approved the burglary and this oblique situation eventually forced the resignation of President Nixon to escape impeachment.

1995- Monica Lewinsky, one November night walked into the Oval Office of President Clinton with a Pizza. It could have been any one of the other interns. Monica only offered a different type of topping. A woman who is aware of what she can arouse in a man has little difficulty in sending the right signals. A predatory male can usually sniff it in the air. The response is their private affair. But it is surprising that when sex scandals are attached to VIPs they assume such proportions of global publicity that even wars do not get.

The most powerful man in the world President Bill Clinton, was recently grilled for six hours by the Lawyers of Paula Jones, who had worked in the office years ago when he was the Governor of Arkansas State. The charge is that she was invited to a hotel room by Clinton and propositioned. Paula's 'sense of female dignity' suddenly woke up after Clinton became the President! In the wake of that another woman, Monica, too has made allegations that she was given a job so that she should not speak about her affair with Clinton. And then the Kenneth Star drama has followed:

The American President would not have done much for his country but the entertainment he is providing for the people of America and the world by subjecting himself to the ordeal makes Americans feel that they have got their money's worth in electing Clinton.

Sometime ago there was the sensational case of the noted Base Ball player - O.J. Simpson - who was sued for raping a woman admirer of his. The question looms large why these women readily go to the hotel rooms when they are invited? What else did they expect the men to do to them in the hotel room? Making allegations against VIPs might be giving them the psychological satisfaction of becoming famous. Paula Jones or Monica Lewinsky or for that matter any of the interns would not have achieved this stardom i f they had not happily and blushingly revealed that they had been propositioned by the U.S. President. It is true and welcoming that in the system of American democracy even the President is not immune from the judicial process. But why some of these ladies who were willing participants are immune from the same judicial process? Why in spite of their candid confession they are allowed to roam in society as social butterflies.

We have yet to watch and see the grand 'finale' of the Kenstar Drama - whether it will have two climaxes - the tragic one of Clinton leaving the White House in tears clasping Hillary to amuse the Gulf and Asian Countries, and the other happy climax of Clinton remaining in the White House till 2000 AD to amuse the European countries.

Stop Press

(T.G. John, Advocate, Trichur)

On Friday, 13th of March 1914, Henriette Caillaux, 36 years old second wife of the French Finance Minister, M. Joseph Caillaux swept into the office of the Paris newspaper 'Le Figaro' and shot dead its Chief Columnist, Gaston Calmette. For 2 months 138 articles and cartoons deriding Caillaux had appeared in 'Le Figaro' but when Calmette published a letter Caillaux had written in 1901, to his first wife ('I have crushed the income tax bill while appearing to defend it, thereby pleasing the centre and right, without too much upsetting the left.....'), the Finance Minister and his wife were frantic knowing that the first Madame Caillaux also possessed copies of their own premarital correspondence. In 1909, during a separation from his mistress (who became in 1911, the second Madame Caillaux) the Finance Minister had written her letters winch were politically and amorously indiscreet. These letters had somehow fallen into the hands of his first wife. The Finance Minister and his wife visualised passages from these letters also appearing in the newspaper because it was clear Calmatte was in possession of these letters.

Realising the inflammatory nature, Henriette sought legal advice and got the information that in France then there was no law to protect individuals against newspaper libels. She left a note for her husband and called at a gunsmith's, where she tested weapons in the firm's shooting gallery. Soon afterwards, she fired four bullets at Calmette in his office and he died in hospital that night.

Monseur Caillaux, the Finance Minister handed in his resignation, an English newspaper stated that the wife of a British Cabinet Minister would never behave in such a way and 'Le Figaro' printed a list of people who deplored the killing!

Henriette Caillaux was tried the following July: She pleaded great provocation and said the gun had gone off accidentally. The jury found her not guilty of murder. Caillaux resumed his political life although after the First World War, he was imprisoned for correspondence with the enemy. Henriette Caillaux died in 1943.

This Happened in a Family Court

(T.G. John, Advocate, Trichur)

'Marriages are made in heaven; but divorces are certainly made on earth.

The following is the strange story of Alice Melis from Cagliari, Sardinia.

Alice Melis ruled the roost, if ever a woman did. Every time her husband went out, she put a padlock on him, right where a man's pride is hurt most! And every night when timed Livio Melis, her husband, came home, he had to strip and stand while she unlocked him like a slave.

Sad little Livio had no idea what he was letting himself in for when he married pretty Alice. Alice's trouble was that she was madly jealous. She told friends shortly after the wedding that she was sure Livio was having an 'affair'. "But I will find a way to keep him for myself she swore.

Using her practical mind and exploiting Livio's gullible character, she double stitched a leather pouch to a belt and fastened a padlock to the buckle. Then she brandished her invention and challenged Livio "If you really love me and want to prove your faithfulness, you will wear this". Just to humour her, Livio consented. From then on the chastity belt was used every time he went to work or strolled out to the local cafe.

"I gave h because I was fed up with the scenes she made each day". Livio told a shocked domestic court-ten years later! "I, did not realise it would become a habit."

Domineering Alice treated him worse than a dog. The humiliation of wearing the belt tore his nerves to shreds. His once thriving pottery business collapsed and in the end he had to sell his shop. But while Livio drifted into hawking caged brids on street corners to eke out a miserable living. Alice prospered. She started embroidering table cloths, opened a souvenir shop and finally threw her husband out on the street.

"I was glad to go" timid Livio told the Court when they examined Alice's petition for separation. Her reasons: extreme mental cruelty and physical maltreatment. Ten years of living in a private hell were expressed in a few sentences by Livio "For the past two years we were living like brother and sister! It was she who betrayed me with other men and then told about it while unlocking the chastity belt. She would laugh and jeer at me in public. She called me a spineless creature and threw pots and pans at me."

Neighbours gave evidence that Alice had boasted of how she beat Livio to keep him under control. Dismissing the cruelty charges against Livio the Judge said 'The key to the issue is that belt. Any man who would suffer such indignity for so long would hardly be cruel to his wife!! He also granted a separation and ordered Alice to pay the costs.

The chastity belt was seized and sent to the Police museum. Livio was a free man at last, but as Alice returned to her shop and embroidery she remained as unrepentant as ever.

"I would do it again" she vowed the men I own, I own lock, stock and barrel!"

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Under the insidious onslaughts of modern permissiveness, family realities are recognised more liberally by courts of law in Great Britain. There is even a suggestion to change one hundred years' old title of Divorce Court to "The Family Division". In bygone years respectability was all. Victorian Judges solemnly ruled that it was manslaughter and not murder if a man killed his wife upon finding her in the act of adultery - but that it remained murder if he found his fiancee or mistress in the same happy position. Now-a-days such tiresome distinctions have disappeared from the law. In this post-Wolfenden age, it would probably be held manslaughter and not murder if a homosexual found his "friend" in bed with another man.

Courts in Great Britain have retreated so far from sound old principles of family life that there is no longer even a judicial consensus that a man is the head of his house. Far from it. Granting both a Surrey antique dealer and his wife joint divorce-decrees on the ground of respective cruelty to each other in October 1970, Mr. Justice Ormrod commented that the husband had wanted to be "that most unlikely thing - the master in his own house." I do not know that there ever was such a person" said the learned Judge who is himself .married. "I suppose once upon a time there was, but it seems to be today, when these feelings arise a man, particularly a middle-aged man, it leads to a succession of fight wars and battles between man and wife."

The police too can sometimes be remarkably appreciative of 'family realities'. As in the incident early this year, somewhere in England, when an escaping thief hotly pursued by two women, hopped in a cab and told the driver to drive like fury as his wife and mother-in-law were after him! Sympathetically, the cab driver sped away - only to be stopped later at a road block when his passenger was led away by the police. The man was a bank robber and the two women had been clerks trying to stop him! Yet the cab driver had little difficulty in persuading the police that he had genuinely believed his customers' story. After all what could have been more natural! The cab driver, the policeman - they had all wives and mother-in-laws.

The truth is that the Courts are for more earthly and pragmatic about family problems than most peoples realised. In particular, they are much less bourgeois - morality minded than many of our so-called ‘trendy' progressives.

The Sins of Adam

(T.G. John, Advocate, Trichur)

Kumar Hemendra Choudhary was the eldest son and heir-apparent to the big estate of Maharaja Acharya Choudhary of DIGAGHAT of the former East Bengal which later became Eastern Pakistan after the Partition in 1947 and has now become Bangladesh. Hemendra was a tall handsome young man of 25 studying in the Second Year B. A. Pass Class of Presidency College, Calcutta; From his age, it could be well deduced that he was not quite serious at his studies. Every year he avoided appearing at the examination. An ordinary student would have been turned out of the college for such omissions, but the British Principal of the college allowed him to continue in the same class year after year as he was the son of a Maharaja. He was also the captain of the Cricket Team of the college. He lived in Calcutta in fine style quite befitting a prince. He resided in a fine two-storied bungalow with lawn, flower, fruit and kitchen gardens and a bachelor as he was, he was living alone in the house with a full retinue of servants, cook, chowkidar, gate keeper and a driver for his Minerva saloon car.

It is sometimes said that there is scarcely any human being of culture and refinement who is not profoundly influenced by a sweet female voice or enchanted by the melody emanating from a soprano or contralto. Hemendra was no exception.

Hemendra had a telephone at his residence. It was in the early days of the telephone system when the 'Exchange' had to be called by the subscriber for getting connection. One fine morning, Hemendra lifted the receiver and asked for Presidency College - No. 423. From the other end, came the reply in a sweet voice, "Yes sir, sorry, the number you called for is engaged, will you please call after three minutes?" Hemendra hung the receiver on the hook. He was so pleasantly surprised by the enchanting melody of the telephone girl that he wanted to call her again immediately. He called again after 3 minutes, this time his heart was pounding heavily. "Are you the Miss who asked me to wait for 3 minutes forgetting 'College 423?" Out came the reply from the same soprano, "Yes Sir, but unfortunately, the number is still engaged. I am afraid you will have to wait for some more time".

"That does not matter, But may I know your name". 'Why should you know it', cooed the soprano. 'But if you are very particular, my name is Molina Sarkar'.

Next morning and thereafter, for several mornings in succession Hemendra was at the telephone talking to Molina. He came to know all about her, that her native place was Dacca, she came to Calcutta to find a job, that she was 21 years old and she got the present job of a telephone operator some 2 years ago. And later, he was informed that she was a good singer and was supplementing her income by working as a background singer in a local theatre and her great ambition was to become a Radio Artist. A young man and woman having thus become friendly over the telephone, things began to progress rapidly. Hemendra's car would often be seen in the evening before Working Girls' Hostel, where Molina was living, waiting for Molina to be taken out. And always it ended in dining out in First Class restaurants and seeing films.

Molina Sarkar was a dark statuesque girl with billowing hair, chiselled nose and lips and a chubby face. She was in fact a rare specimen of dusky beauty and known in her circle of friends as, 'Kasti Devi' (granite goddess) and 'Abu Rani' (ebony beauty) and 'Krishna Bhamini' (black enchantress). Inspite of her dusky complexion, she had an extra ordinary personality and her silvery voice even in her ordinary talk or rhythmic laughter would seem to the hearers like a sweet melody flowing from afar.

For six months, Hemendra and Molina flitted like love-doves with a song in their hearts and star-dust in their eyes. Within that period Hemendra through his influence with All India Radio Officials procured for her the job of a full fledged Radio Artiste. She was acclaimed as highly talented in Carnatic music. The greatest day came when Hemendra presented her a jewelled set, all set with diamonds and rubies and promised to marry her within three more months' time when his examinations would be over. Molina was eagerly counting the days, when things began to happen.

At the Radio Station, Molina acquired a girl friend. Her name was Mridula Mukherjee and she was a tall, fair and vivacious girl of about 24 with a fine figure whose work at the station was that of an announcer. Her large eyes with delicately poised eyebrows and lashed over with curved eyelashes were capable of stunning any young man. And gradually Hemendra began to switch over his time and attention from Molina to Mridula. This was resented vehemently by Molina who began to treat Hemendra contemptuously and the volcano burst into violent eruption when Molina declined with disdain all attempts of Hemendra to pacify her and meet her again. Considering his status, wealth and appearance, this scornful treatment by a woman was a new experience to him.

One January evening when it was bitterly cold outside, and a dense fog had enveloped the atmosphere, Hemendra Choudhary's car appeared at the Emergency Ward of the Medical College Hospital. Inside the car Hemendra was found in an unconscious condition, occasionally showing symptoms of severe pain in his left upper arm and great breathing difficulty. Steychnine was injected to improve his respiration but it proved to be of no avail. Complete respiratory paralysis occurred at 2 A.M. and in another 10 minutes, Hemendra was dead. The mysterious circumstances, under which Hemendra died necessitated a post-mortem examination which revealed that his death was due to respiratory paralysis on account of poisoning of the circulatory system by some virulent poison injected into the blood stream. On his left upper arm, there was a puncture like that of a needle with a tiny laceration on one side.

The investigation was taken up by the CID of Police. Molina was interrogated and a search of her room resulted in the finding of an unfinished woolen cardigan and nickel plated steel needle, about seven inches long.

Molina Sarkar gave a statement before the police about her relation with Hemendra and their marriage settlement and Mridula's entering his life which was resented by her. And how later one day, Hemendra came to her room in the hostel breaking all hostel rules, she was so disgusted with him that she even threatened to call police. Molina was sitting in her bedroom and knitting a cardigan when Hemendra quietly opened the door and closed it again behind him. Hemendra then rushed towards her and taking her in his arms threw her down in the bed in an attempt to violate her. Not able to resist him, she gave a thrust with the knitting needle that she had in her hand on his left upper arm. He jumped up in agony and ran out of the room and that she knew nothing more.

The knitting needle was subjected to examination by chemical microscopy when some black sticky substance was found on the needle point. It was found that it was poison akin to 'Curare'(arrow poison) obtained from the Andaman Island and that it was partly soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid and completely soluble in alcohol.

Molina Sarkar was arrested by the police on suspicion. It was pointed out that the needle was very old and rusty with which she could never have knitted the cardigan and that the needle had poison on it which she would have procured from Calcutta with a murderous intention. But Molina did not detract an inch from her previous statement. , She was sent up for trial for murdering Hemendra Chowdhary with a poisoned crochet needle and was committed to the sessions which gave her the benefit of the doubt and acquitted her.

The mystory of the case, however, cleared itself when after the acquittal Molina Sarkar, the Silvery Soprano, committed suicide leaving the following note :

"I cannot stand this life any more without my Hemendra, whom I have cruelly killed. I deserve no compassion".